Manchester (29-12-2-5) leads the Atlantic Division with 65 points. Binghamton (28-14-0-3) is ranked first in the East Division with 59 points.

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“I thought we were pretty solid for almost the whole game,” said Monarchs Head Coach Mark Morris. “The second period we got run around a little bit and they made a big push, but we got some big saves from (J.F.) Berube that kept the big lead. Then we kind of fell asleep there at the tail end and gave them one. Great team effort, the four lines were going pretty good. We saw different types of goals happen and a couple scraps. They took liberty with our guys and I thought our guys did a good job standing up for one another. The early momentum obviously helped us. I felt we had a good forecheck going and hemmed them in for most of the first and that gave us a lot of confidence to carry through with most of the game.”

Pearson collected the eventual game-winning goal, his 15th tally of the season, at 15:21 of the first period. After stealing the puck at center ice, left wing Nick Deslauriers passed the puck ahead to Pearson. The left wing raced into the Binghamton zone and down the left edge of the slot. Pearson fired the puck into the top-shelf of the net to give the Monarchs a 2-0 lead.

O’Neill put the Monarchs on the board early with the opening goal of the game. Weal brought the puck across the blueline and into the Binghamton zone from center ice. Weal flipped the puck back to a trailing O’Neill along the left boards. O’Neill skated across the left face-off circle toward the net and wristed a shot above the blocker of Senators netminder Nathan Lawson and into the left corner of the net. O’Neill’s 11th tally of the season came at 3:24 of the first period to give the Monarchs the early 1-0 advantage. Defenseman Derek Forbort was also credited with an assist on the play.

Manchester increased their lead to three moments later with a shorthanded goal from center Linden Vey. After Pearson attempted to clear the puck, Lawson skated behind his own net to gain possession. The puck took a strange bounce off the end boards and back toward the front of the empty net. Vey had followed the puck into the zone and was able to score on the play before Lawson could dive back in front of the net. The goal was Vey’s eighth tally of the season and gave the Monarchs a 3-0 advantage at 17:35 in the first period.

Defenseman Chris Huxley added to the Monarchs lead with his first goal of the season at 9:26 of the second period. Weal passed the puck from the bottom of the left face-off circle to Huxley near the left wall at the top of the zone. Huxley bore down and wristed a shot toward a crowd of bodies in front of the net. After perhaps being redirected, the puck found its way past Lawson and into the top right corner of the net to give the Monarchs a four-goal lead.

The Monarchs added yet another goal less than a minute later when right wing A.J. Gale registered his eighth goal of the season. After receiving a pass from forward Nick Shore, Gale fired a slap shot toward the net from the top of the slot. The puck sped past Lawson and found the top left corner of the net to give Manchester a 5-0 lead at 10:01 of the second period. Defenseman Andrew Campbell was also credited with an assist on the goal.

Goaltender Andrew Hammond replaced Lawson in net for the Senators after Gale’s goal.

Binghamton finally got onto the scoreboard with just over two minutes to play when left wing David Dziurzynski collected his fourth goal of the season. After receiving a pass behind the net from right wing Buddy Robinson, Dziurzynski sent a centering pass in front of Monarchs goaltender J.F. Berube and it appeared to be redirected up into the net for the score. The goal brought the score to 5-1 at 17:09 in the third period.

Berube (18-12-2) earned his 18th win of the season stopping 27-of-28 shots. Lawson (15-6-0) took his sixth loss of the season, stopping 16 of the 21 shots he faced in the game. Hammond (12-8-3) saved all six shots he faced in relief duty.

Manchester was 0-for-8 on the power play. Binghamton went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.

Notables: The Monarchs currently leads the AHL with 65 points…Right wing Brian O’Neill (2-3=5) is on a four-game point streak…Center Jordan Weal has collected one goal and four assists in his last three games…Left wing Nick Deslauriers (0-3=3) is on a three-game point streak…Center Linden Vey has registered two goals and two assists for four points in his last three games…Defenseman Chris Huxley scored his first goal of the season after missing 22 games due to a lower body injury.

The Monarchs will take on the St. John’s IceCaps at 7:00 p.m. at Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday, February 1.